Although much of the debate surrounding Principal Jim Slemp’s Action Plan has revolved around his proposal to eliminate science labs, passage of major science lab cuts seems almost impossible at this time. I don’t want to waste your time by discussing something with no hope of actually passing through the School Board and the Measure A Planning and Oversight Committee, so I will discuss something which has flown under the radar in recent months, but may be even more questionable in effectiveness and enforcement than Mr. Slemp’s proposed science lab cuts, the proposed fifteen minute nutritional break between second and third period.
Though the stated purpose of this break is to allow under–privileged students, who may not have the opportunity to eat a healthy breakfast, to get the food they need to focus in class, it’s really recess. Unfortunately, no part of Mr. Slemp’s plan includes money for jungle gyms for us to play on during this break. We’ll have to go to Washington Elementary to play on the monkey bars. I’m personally outraged we won’t get our own slides, because, you know, we’re eight–year–olds. Without slides or monkey bars, recess won’t be anywhere near as much fun as it ought to be.
As our school will not have the proper equipment for students to regress to elementary school, I fear it will instead become something our parents have, a smoke break, but I don’t think students will be smoking tobacco. Although, of course, I have no personal knowledge of marijuana, as it is illegal and hazardous to your health, its illegality does not deter all Berkeley High School students. Luckily for those students who choose to partake in marijuana consumption, fifteen minutes is almost exactly enough time to leave class, meet up with one’s friends, travel with said friends to the park, either take out a pre-made blunt or place one’s weed in a pipe, smoke said marijuana, and then return to class. Somehow I doubt Mr. Slemp wants students smoking during his nutritional breaks, but at least students will have mobile breakfast carts all around campus to deal with their munchies on the way back to class.
Mr. Slemp said at a recent School Board meeting that students wouldn’t be allowed off campus during the nutritional breaks. Although not allowing students to leave campus might seem a reasonable solution to the problem of smoking during recess, most students I have talked to find the idea of shutting down the campus laughable. Berkeley High has about one hundred exits and there is no way that even the security guards could possibly prevent a student who wants to leave from leaving.
Mr. Slemp says he wants to close the achievement gap, but I don’t think he’s truly thought through all the consequences of his plan. The recess element of his Action Plan demonstrates the same lack of critical thinking and dismissal of the possible negative consequences that has been made abundantly clear throughout the redesign process. Mr. Slemp has been a great principal; he brought much needed order to a dangerous and out–of–control high school. But without staying constantly aware of potential problems, we cannot hope to truly solve our current problems. The School Governance Council, which may be unlawfully constituted, needs to be properly set up, with more parents and fewer aembers following the lead of Mr. Slemp. As Winston Churchill said, “democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others that have been tried,” and right now Mr. Slemp’s refusal to listen to people with legitimate grievances has led to a deeply–flawed plan. When other points of view are not taken into account, people can make mistakes because no matter how smart someone thinks they are, the world never goes exactly how they plan it out. By ignoring of common sense, Mr. Slemp’s has led to a half-baked plan plan that will lead to an all-baked student body.dministration m
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